Power slowly returns for most homes; some still out

Though the unofficial great storm of 2012 passed by nearly a week ago, its effects still are being felt by Cheboygan County residents and the utilities workers struggling to restore power.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

Though the unofficial great storm of 2012 passed by nearly a week ago, its effects still are being felt by Cheboygan County residents and the utilities workers struggling to restore power.The vast majority of those still without power are in the county’s southern reaches, near Wolverine and Fingerboard Corners. The storms destruction in that region has made rural power restoration and daunting challenge.“The big issues we’re facing are broken poles and fallen trees,” said Marie Chagnon-Hazelman, spokesperson for Presque Isle Gas and Electric Cooperative. “Most of the outages we’re still working on are individual outages, not clusters or neighborhoods. Fixing this individual outages is a long process.”In total, PIE&G had 900 customers still without power Wednesday morning, almost all of which were in the Wolverine and Lewiston areas. By 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, the number was down to 650. Workers pushed through the holidays in an effort to get power to waiting customers, but the process likely will take a few more days.“We’re expecting some folk might not get back on until Friday,” said Chagnon-Hazelman. “Out guys have been working so hard, right through Christmas and Christmas Eve. They really deserve some credit.”This has been quite a process for homeowners. A week without power is difficult.“We’ve talked to a lot of customers who have generators or wood stoves, other means of heating,” Chagnon-Hazelman added. “Others I’m sure, have had to go to relatives. We know this is not easy, but we’re working as hard as we can to get everything restored.”For those without power, homeowners insurance will cover some of the expenses, but not always.“It won’t cover power outages that aren’t just their residence,” said Sue Schoenith, a Cheboygan State Farm Insurance agent. “If it’s just their residence that’s affected, it can be covered.”“If your pipes freeze as a result of an outage, it will cover that, but its not going to cover additional living expenses like putting you up in a hotel or eating out while the power is out,” she added.This massive storm affected much of Cheboygan County, knocking out power to thousands of homes and flattening countless trees.“We lost about three-fourths of our services,” said Chagnon-Hazelman. PIE&G officials estimate 21,752 customers lost power across their 9-county northern Michigan coverage area.